I once watched an old television series and laughed when I heard the familiar tune, “School Days,” written by Will Cobb and Gus Edwards. The chorus reminded me of the three basics and says:

School days, school days

Dear old golden rule days

Readin’ and ‘ritin’ and rithmetic

Taught to the tune of the hickory stick.

Life’s Basics

I know them as the three Rs. They were and still are the basics of a good education. To read is to begin to understand. Writing is vital to communication. To figure out sums causes us to ponder and think things through. Without the three Rs, life would be difficult.

When it comes to our spiritual education, there are also three basics, which I know as the three Fs: fact, faith, and feelings.

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

~Romans 5:1 NLT

As a child walking to school, I gazed at the sky and wondered who made everything and where they lived. I instinctively knew there must be someone or something bigger than me. As an adult, I know these wonderings were from God. The Bible says God has set eternity in the human heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Within each person resides a sense that there is more than what we can see in this world.

God’s Basics

Sometime later, I attended Sunday School for the first time and heard the scriptural facts concerning God’s love and salvation through Jesus. Upon hearing these facts, I immediately knew they were true and the answer to my wondering. A God, someone bigger than me, knew and loved me. These facts birthed my faith.

My life of faith, however, only began to mature as fact bolstered it. Faith cannot stand alone. Fact, found in the Word of God, reveals who God is, what He has done and does, how to know Him through salvation in Christ, and how to live a life that pleases Him. The more facts we know about God and practice, the greater our faith becomes. These facts prove the depth and trustworthiness of their truth.

The third F is for feelings. Facts and faith in God produce comfort, peace, love, and joy.  These feelings can, in turn, bolster our faith even more. Emotions, however, can be fickle. We must always be careful to think and ponder their roots to ensure that our feelings align with the facts and truth of God’s Word. Otherwise, ungodly thoughts and actions will carry us away.

Fact, faith, and feelings. The three Fs for a good spiritual foundation. Put them into practice daily.

Father, thank You for setting eternity in my heart. I pray that many heed this instinctive knowledge and seek facts and faith through Your Word. In Christ’s name, amen.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2025: The Three Basics: Lynne Phipps: All Rights Reserved